Chapter 218 Taoist

There are not many soldiers in Ying Yi's army who have families.

In the age of chaos, many families were destroyed due to hunger and war. There are less than 23 out of 10 people like Wang Qi who have family members.

Those with family members will be resettled in the same way as ordinary people. If not, they will be placed in a centralized location. In Nanyang and Kaifeng, several counties have military resettlement villages, all of which are soldiers who have lost their families and are left alone.

A large part of Ying Yi's soldiers were selected from prisoners in every battle. Most of them had no family members. Each of the 100 people will be divided into 100 households and concentrated into a resettlement village. The military land granted was temporarily managed by the government and civilians were recruited for farming.

During this New Year's Day, when the soldiers took turns taking leave, there were also government officials holding red threads to build the Magpie Bridge. Although each person only got three days of leave, there were still seven to eight thousand soldiers who were single and had their own families.

People who have no worries are often ruthless, but people who have no worries are not stable enough. Allowing soldiers to have families is partly a responsibility and partly for stability.

The military resettlement village established a few years ago gradually gained popularity after the festival. The soldiers who took the last round of leave all returned to camp on the 20th of the first lunar month, leaving behind newlyweds and wives, adding popularity and color to the originally empty military resettlement village.

Wang Qi brought more than 20 newcomers from his village to Ye County, handed the newcomers to the Ye County Recruitment Office, and then reunited with his comrades and returned to his headquarters.

In just a few days, the nearby county town, where a large population gathered, was already bustling with people. Most of the temporary military camps set up by the recruitment office are already full.

These newcomers will undergo a month of initial training in a temporary military camp, and then be reorganized and allocated military equipment to form a staff of four captains.

It cannot be later than March, that is, the establishment must be completed by the end of February.

During this process, more functions of the military were gradually improved and systematized, such as recruitment and training. The method of conscription is taken as an example and will be followed in the future. The method of military training was compiled in the Code of Conduct, with the New Book of Ji Xiao as the core, with slight additions and subtractions, forming a code of conduct method belonging to Ying Yi's army.

What does large-scale conscription mean? Even ordinary people can figure it out, let alone those who are literate and knowledgeable.

There is no such thing as war.

"It looks like there's going to be another war."

There is a posthouse ten miles outside Zhuxian Town and a tavern beside the posthouse. Travelers and merchants come and go here to have a glass of wine and a bowl of tea. If you are hungry, you can order some bowls of dry rice. If you are tired, you can also book a room.

The so-called Ten Miles and One Station, the original infrastructure of the Ming Dynasty, was actually pretty good. There are inns all over the world. One is for conveying imperial decrees, the other is for receiving officials, and the third is for merchants to rest.

Since the bandits started wreaking havoc, the inn has been basically abandoned. There are external reasons and there are internal reasons. The external reason is that the world is unstable, and the internal reason is that the Ming court cannot afford to pay.

For example, Li Chuang was originally a postman. Because they couldn't get their salary and were going hungry, they revolted.

Ying Yi settled in Henan, and during this period the post function was gradually restored. The original intention is naturally to facilitate the transmission of military information, etc., but the convenience to the people is secondary.

The inn itself is an official institution and does not accept ordinary people, but it cannot withstand the vision of businessmen. When the inn was restored, businessmen bought land, built houses, and built a tavern.

"I heard that conscription is going on everywhere." Several merchants chatted while sipping wine. One person said: "My little brother came from Nanyang. That guy has a lot of tin cans, and the new ones are coming one after another. Tsk, tsk, they are so powerful. By the way, the soldiers under Lord Ying's command are really extraordinary."

"Nonsense." One person said: "How could we capture Henan without strong soldiers? Even the imperial court..."

"Hush!" Someone said quickly: "Shut up, if you have anything to say, don't say anything."

"What's the big deal." The man didn't take it seriously: "In my opinion, the sun and the moon are probably about to change. You see earlier, there were years of famine, and the government didn't even provide any relief, let alone the bandits. Violent and cruel. But look at it now, is there anyone left hungry in Henan?"

"That makes sense." Everyone in the tavern couldn't help but agree. They believed it.

Someone said: "It's really amazing. Look at us businessmen, we have to suffer year after year, month after month, traveling all over the world, and we are still afraid. If we offend any mountain king, our lives will be on the line. Just like this, we can't do it all year round. A few copper coins. Hey, look at those farmers. Which household is not prosperous this year? Even a single person has at least five acres of land. After paying taxes, he still has a surplus of twenty or thirty shi. The government is doomed again. The price of grain is so high, and they are buying it on a large scale. Who is not making a lot of money? I want to farm."

"Don't say it yet." Someone said: "There is a lot of business in this grain business at the moment. We are not short of grain in Henan, but we can't resist the shortage in other places. Those who have the ability will collect the old grain locally and transport it to other places. Sell, at least three to five times the profit.”

"Then you must have that ability." The man said with a smile: "I'm afraid you won't be able to keep food after leaving Henan. Not to mention the thieves and bandits everywhere, the officials scraped off layer after layer on the way, and in the end they fell. How much oil and water is there in your pocket? I’m still scared.”

"So we say that the sun and the moon change the sky." Someone said earlier: "This is no joke. Look at Henan, where are the thieves and bandits? They have been combed out and killed, and the ones who are not dead are still there. They have all gone to work as coolies. Now in Henan, I am not afraid of walking anywhere, even at night, and I am not afraid of encountering ghosts."

"That's right, that's right. Let's do business honestly. We're a little tired, but there's hope, right?"

"It's just this tax, it can't be justified." Someone complained: "The last time I had two carts of cotton, they only charged me 2, 2, 5, and 2 cents. Ouch, it hurts so much that my heart is twitching."

"Two carts of cotton cloth is not a small number." Someone said in surprise: "Brother, the business is not small. Two carts of cotton cloth are shipped from other places. How can you make fifty taels in Kaifeng? The profit of ten taels is taxed at 5%. , fifty taels is exactly two, two, and five."

"That's right." Someone said: "You brought the goods here, and you only collected a tax here. Are you still heartbroken? In the early years, there were checkpoints all over the place, and they collected taxes all the way. How could you make forty-seven taels and five cents? Four taels and seven cents and five cents for repayment. almost."

The man's face turned red.

Someone laughed and said, "Don't complain. Didn't you see that those big merchants didn't say anything? When they come back, their profits are more than a thousand taels, and the business tax is calculated at 20%, so they have to pay hundreds at a time." Two silver coins. How old are you?"

"That shouldn't be the case. The more you earn, the more you should pay. They deserve to have a big business."

Most of the people were businessmen, and it goes without saying that they were envious of those big merchants. Now that they heard this, they felt much better.

Someone said, "I'm afraid the silver and copper coins won't be useful when I go back to Kaifeng. Everyone knows about the guy above who issues new coins, right?"

"There is a notice outside the door, who can't see it?" Someone said, "I just don't know the quality of the new coins."

The waiter on the side was coming up with a tea tray. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Masters, don't worry, the new coins are cute and tight."

"Hey, the second brother still has such knowledge?" Everyone laughed.

The second brother did not feel dissatisfied and said with a smile: "All the guest officers and uncles are powerful people. I am just a waiter. I cannot compare with you. But if you want to be well-informed, you have to look to me."